Page 86 of All Summer Long

Ewan went for a manly handshake, and then got shoved aside by Jase and Dessy who manhandled Robinson into a three-way hug punctuated by hearty backslaps and congratulations.

He soaked them all in like a family reunion, and then moved along to Niamh.

‘I didn’t recognise you with your clothes on,’ she joked, making him laugh at the memory of that day back in the Airstream doorway. When he leaned down and kissed her cheek, she took the opportunity to whisper in his ear.

‘Break her and I swear I’ll kill you in your sleep.’

Robinson wasn’t offended. He just wished he had the kind of best friend who had his back like that rather than an eye on his girl. His eyes slid to the empty space at her side, looking for Alice.

‘Where is she?’ The damaged edges of Robinson’s heart banged painfully against his ribs.Please don’t let her have left without saying goodbye.Niamh must have read his fear in his eyes, because she laid a hand on his bicep and smiled.

‘It’s okay. Marsh took her to your dressing room, I think. We’re heading out for dinner but she’s not coming with us, so I assume she’s eating with you. Or …’ Niamh shrugged and grinned, ‘whatever she’s doing, she’s doing it with you.’

Relief washed through his body like cool water on a hot day. She was here somewhere; he just needed to find her. Excusing himself with a promise of getting together over the next few days, he slipped out of a side door and away from the signature-hungry crowds.

CHAPTER THIRTY-TWO

Alice didn’t know what to do with herself. She’d tried sitting down on the battered leather couch, and comfortable as it was, she couldn’t settle. She sat instead at the spot-lit bank of mirrors along the back wall, fiddling with empty coffee cups and guitar picks for a few minutes before getting up again and pacing the patterned rug as she looked at the framed pictures of previous stars who’d performed at the arena. It was a comfortable, lamp-lit space designed to soothe the nerves of anxious artists, but even the understated southern luxury couldn’t settle the butterfly farm in her stomach.

God, what if he didn’t want her here? What if he’d had time to think about things since this morning and decided on balance that she should have let their romance rest where they’d left it in Borne? That was the way it was always supposed to be, after all. The butterflies stilled as if they were playing a game of statues and someone had turned the music off.

But then … that song. He wouldn’t have written it, and surely he wouldn’t have performed it tonight knowing she was there if he wasn’t glad she’d come to Nashville? The butterflies slowly started to flap their wings again, gathering for flight and swooping as she let herself remember how he’d looked and how he’d sounded in that encore.

She heard a door close down the hallway outside, and the footsteps coming nearer threw her into panic mode. She didn’t want to be standing in the middle of the room when he came in, it looked weird. She tried out the sofa again, and then at the last moment wriggled up and perched on the arm with her ankles crossed. And then the handle turned and the door swung open, and it didn’t matter at all whether she was sitting on the sofa or standing on her head, because Robinson burst into the room and pulled her right into his arms and kissed her until she was breathless and euphoric, and the butterflies all lay punch drunk and delirious.

‘I was scared I’d dreamt you,’ he said, holding her face in his hands. ‘God, I’ve missed you so much.’

‘You didn’t dream me,’ she whispered fiercely. ‘I’m here for you for as long as you want me to be.’

His slow, sexy smile tipped his mouth at one edge.

‘What if I say I want you to stay with me for ever, Goldilocks?’

Alice didn’t hesitate for a second. ‘I’d say yes.’

Robinson studied her, intent.

‘What about your life back home in Borne? The manor … the Airstream … you have so much to go home to.’

Alice shook her head, and found that thinking about giving up all of those precious things he’d mentioned didn’t hurt anywhere near as much as she’d thought it might. It was as if being with Robinson had given her padding on the inside so that none of the bad stuff could hurt her any more.

‘It’s for sale.’

‘Then I’ll buy it for you.’

She laughed softly. ‘I don’t want you to.’

‘I’m serious, Alice.’ He stroked her hair behind her ear. ‘Let me buy it. It’s your home. I know how much you love it.’

Alice didn’t doubt for one minute that he could and would buy the manor in a heartbeat if she asked.

‘Home’s a funny word, Robinson. I learned this summer that it’s not a place.’ She’d already moved out of the manor in her head and into him, into the equally protective walls of his arms.

‘I do love the manor,’ she said. ‘But I love you so much more.’

If she could have pressed record on just one scene in her entire life, it would have been that one, the way Robinson Duff looked at her when she told him that she loved him for the very first time.

He made a sound in his throat, low and intimate, somewhere between a relieved moan, a sexy sigh and a territorial growl, and to Alice’s ears it was even more special than their love song because it was for her ears only.

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